How The Other Half Lives
by Jase Andrews
Summary: A short story in which Harry, Ron and Hermione accidentally stumble into an alternate dimension.
1. Part I

You know the drill...I did not create the Harry Potter characters, yadda yadda yadda...

* * *

Harry paced the area of the Room of Requirement three times, thinking 'We need a quiet place to study for exams,' while Hermione and Ron watched from a little bit away. If too many people stood to close to the door and the thoughts mixed, the room could come out completely different.  
There was a burst of sparkles on the wall, and the door appeared. The three had used this room a lot in their 6th year; most of the other kids who knew about it were now afraid to come to it once Umbridge had discovered it. Ron pulled open the door, and they entered.  
But something was wrong. 

Usually, the room would have nice chairs, bookshelves, and a fireplace or two to create a relaxing atmosphere. But now it looked like a dungeon. There were all sorts of strange machines on old tables, and there was a dusty old full-length mirror on one of the walls.  
"What is this place?" Hermione whispered, picking up one of the oddities.  
"I have no idea. But we'd better get out of here." Ron said, and headed towards the door. Suddenly, it closed and locked. Ron pulled on the handle as hard as he could and tried "Alohamora" over and over, but it was no use.  
"Somebody obviously wants us here," Said Harry, picking up a dusty medallion, "But why?" He wiped it off with the sleeve of his robe. Once it was clean, he could see that it was a Yin-Yang symbol. It started to glow, and then flew out of Harry's hand and attached itself to the mirror in the room. The glass of the mirror changed. It became all clean, and it rippled a few times. Harry, Ron and Hermione all stood in front of it.  
But their reflections did not appear.  
"What do you suppose-" Ron said, but Hermione suddenly reached her hand out.  
And through the mirror.  
"It's a passage to an alternate world. A mirror world of ours." She said softly. Hermione removed her hand, and the trio looked at each other.  
"Should we go in?" Ron asked.  
"Well, it's not like we have any other choice." Said Harry. He stepped through the mirror. It felt like there was a bunch of water being poured over him, but he wasn't getting wet. Once he was on the other side, he looked back at Ron and Hermione.  
"It's ok," he said, looking at their nervous faces, "It doesn't hurt." Ron and Hermione slowly walked through the mirror.  
"It looks exactly the same." Ron said.  
"Not quite - the door in this room is open." Hermione said, "I guess we should...go explore."  
They all left the room. The castle was exactly the same. All of the halls were quiet though; no one seemed to be around.  
"I think they're all in class now." Hermione said, looking at her watch, "But that doesn't make since."  
She indicated to a window; it was dark, and the moon could easily be seen through the clear sky.  
"What time IS it?" Ron asked.  
"About 11...AM." Hermione replied. Suddenly, the bell rang: class was dismissed. Everywhere students came from doors, walking past Ron, Hermione and Harry as if they didn't see them. Suddenly, Hermione grabbed Harry's arm.  
"Harry - look!" 

Walking down a hallway, chatting were three students. They could have been clones of Harry, Ron and Hermione, except for some big differences.  
The different Harry had shockingly white hair, just like Malfoy's. He didn't have glasses, and his eyes were a bright blue. Hermione's twin was the same except for straight black hair instead of curly brown hair. Ron's twin was wearing nice robes, and his hair was streaked blue. It looked like this version of Ron had a lot of money.  
But what surprised Harry most about the alternate three was instead of a lightning bolt scar on the different Harry, it was a half moon. 

"Think we should go talk to them?" Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione.  
"Are you nuts? That could throw off our whole universal balance! I mean, we could've already doomed the universe by US discovering this place; I hate to think of what would happen if our exact opposites found out about us too!"  
"Hermione, I don't think they're EXACT opposites," Harry said, ignoring most of what she just said, "They're wearing Gryffindor robes..."  
"But you see, Gryffindor could be our world's Slytherin, and Slytherin here could be like Gryffindors and-..." She paused, as if trying to think of something, but then threw her hands into the air.  
"This is too confusing, even for me." She grumbled. Suddenly, a voice filled the hallways.  
"ATTENTION STUDENTS OF WARTHOGS SCHOOL OF WIZARDRY AND WITCHCRAFT: WE WOULD LIKE TO INFORM YOU THAT TODAY'S QUIDDITCH MATCH BETWEEN GRYFFINDOR AND RAVENCLAW HAS BEEN CANCELED." It sounded just like Professor McGonagall.  
"How could they play Quidditch anyways? It's the middle of the night!" Harry said.  
"Harry, it's an alternate universe. Day and night are switched." Hermione said, rolling her eyes, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
"Why don't we just leave now, while two-thirds of us are still sane." Ron said, and Hermione glared at him.  
"Hey! Who are you?" A voice came from behind them. They whirled around.  
And came face-to-face with their alternate doubles. 


	2. Part II

"I SAID, who are you?" The parallel Hermione asked, frowning. Parallel Harry and Parallel Ron were standing behind her, Harry staring at our world's Harry's scar, and Ron looking confused.

"I'm Hermione…" Hermione said.

"So am I." Hermione said.

"Ok, ok. This is too confusing. Why don't we just…call ourselves something?" Blond Harry asked.

"You can call us…Dark Ron, Harry and Hermione." Dark Ron said.

"Dark?" Ron asked nervously, "Are you…evil?"

"Good grief, no." Dark Hermione said haughtily, "The Slytherins are the evil ones. Call us dark because it's dark out; I'm guessing in your world it's light out right now."

"Ha!" Ron said, smiling at Hermione, "You were wrong; the Gryffindors ARE the same as us!" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"So what are you guys doing here anyways?" Dark Harry asked, "Aren't we breaking all sorts of interdimensional space laws or something?"

"I don't know; but we got here by this strange mirror in the Room of Requirement. We walked through it, and boom, we were here." Harry said. Students passed the group of six, doing double takes as they walked by.

"Erm…maybe we should find a better place to talk. I'm guessing word travels around your school as fast as it does ours." Ron said, staring back at the students.

"I'll show you where the Room of Requirement is." Dark Harry said. The traveled through the school, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were amazed that the layout was exactly the same, except everything was reversed. The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was on the opposite side of the castle, and Snape's class was in one of the highest towers.

As they were venturing through Warthogs School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, Dark Hermione suddenly shoved them into an empty classroom.

"What was THAT for?" Ron asked, but Dark Hermione glared at him to shut up. She closed the door so that they all could see. Suddenly two people passed, and Harry would have never recognized them if it weren't for their voices.

"Sir, how do we know that Peeves broke that chandelier?"

"Ah, Minerva, I have partaken in the latest of muggle technology; a thing called a 'security camera.' A recording of Peeves was made, and that's all the proof I need."  
It was Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore.

But McGonagall had blond hair that was down to her shoulders; there weren't wrinkles on her face, and she looked…young.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, looked the same except for the glasses; they were star-shaped spectacles instead of half-moons.

"Wow…" Hermione whispered, "I wonder why some of the parallel versions look the way they do…it's very strange."

"Strange?" Ron asked, with a scared voice, shaking, "You think THAT'S strange? I just thought Professor McGonagall was CUTE!"

Eventually, the six came upon the wall that the door to the Room appeared.

"I'll get it," Hermione said, and started pacing.

"We need a way for us to get home…" she repeated. The door magically appeared, and Hermione opened it.

Inside was a vast field of flowers. Bunnies were hopping about, and the sun was shining in the sky that had come out of nowhere.

"H-how is THIS supposed to get us home?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, this is a parallel universe," Ron mimicked in a voice that sounded like Hermione's, "Everything's reversed here!"

"Oh. Right." Hermione said, blushing, and Dark Harry stood in front of the door.

"We don't need a passage to our parallel universe…we don't need a way for these three to get home…" he said. The door rippled for a second, and then they all went in.

It was the same room the three had been in before. Harry noticed that the mirror's portal was still functioning, but the glow from it was fading fast.

"Ron, Hermione; the portal's about to close. We have to go, NOW!" He said, and Ron and Hermione said goodbye to their counterparts and walked through the mirror. Harry turned to Dark Harry; his blue eyes were shining and he had a smile on his face.

"It was nice to meet you," Dark Harry said, "and good luck."

"You too," Harry replied, shaking his hand. He then went through the mirror, and watched as the image of their reverse selves standing in the exact same position disappeared. The Yin-Yang symbol fell out of the mirror and landed in Ron's hand.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" Ron asked, eyeing it.

"I'll take it." Harry said, grinning. He put it in his pocket. Maybe some time later, he could go visit Dark Harry; learn more about his world.

Dark Harry, Ron and Hermione watched as their doubles disappeared. A Yin-Yang symbol fell from the top of the mirror, and landed in Ron's hand.

"What the heck are we supposed to do with THIS?" Ron said, holding it away from his face as if it were something dead.

"I'll take it." Dark Harry said, eyes staring intently into the mirror. Maybe some time later, he could discover the secrets of this mirror; learn more about its use.

Harry, Ron and Hermione never DID find out where that mirror came from, but they learned something from it. That no matter how you dress, look, or come from; character and personality are the only things that are really important.


End file.
